It is a
stirring tale of a young RAF pilot attempting to return home for Christmas
when his luck turns horribly bad. Stuck out over the North Sea at night,
without radio or instruments, how will he survive? When all seems lost,
however, a lone aircraft approaches him and guides him back to a hopefully
safe landing, but is it in time? Listen to the link, I think you will
enjoy the tale.

*The following
contains spoilers that many ruin the ending for those not in the know.
Read on at your own risk!

The two
aircraft depicted in the story is a DeHavilland Vampire, and an older
Dehavilland Mosquito. Neither mark is accurately described, and in my
edition, the artwork isn't particularly helpful in determining accurate
make or makings, so I decided to wing it! I used an HobbyCraft Vampire and
Monogram Mosquito, both in 1:48 scale, and both not known for being
stunning accurate either! So much more the better, since the telling of
the tale is more important than the nit picking accuracy of a technical
journal.

First, the
Vampire. I used a HobbyCraft Vampire of an unknown mark, as I obtained the
kit without instructions. I shortened the wings to simulate the later
fighter variants. Markings came from the spares box, and the pilot came
from a Tamiya Douglas Skyray. Basic spray can painting technique was used.
As an aside, the tail surfaces are terribly small on this kit, but it
still looks like a Vampire once done. Bear in mind, I was not going for
100% accuracy here, but just a depiction of the story as it unfolded.

The Mosquito
was built up from the ancient Monogram kit. It actually went together
reasonably well, but I've heard it's off in the accuracy department. Oh
well, so is the book! In it, the Mosquito is described as a Pathfinder
Squadron bird, so I depicted what I assume would be a reasonable version
of that. Painting was done with Tamiya Spraycans and some fun masking.
Decals were from the kit, with the tail number and JK nose letters from
homemade inkjet decals. I also added electric motors to spin the props and
a green LED to illuminate the pilot (an extra bit on my part, using the
transparent crewman from a Tamiya Swordfish to achieve a spectral glow not
depicted in the book...)

Click on
images below to see larger images

Both planes were built gear up,
as the scene takes place inflight during the white-knuckle descent through the
East Anglian fog to an uncertain fate! They were mounted on a base that had been
masked to show the book cover, and were held aloft on styrene tubes (This was
essential for the Mosquito as it required wiring runs up the inside of the
tubes.) Franky, I kind of wish I'd NOT bothered with the running engines, as the
starboard one refused to work for quite a while, and during the photo shoot, the
port one quit completely! Must have had Lucas Wiring!

"Mr Johnny went
out on his last patrol Christmas Eve 1943, just fourteen years ago tonight. He
never came back, sir. He went down with is plane somewhere out there in the
North Sea. Good night sir. And Happy Christmas."